From a certain, coldly logical perspective, neither of these deals makes any sense. When it comes to contract negotiations for players completing rookie seasons, teams have all the leverage because the players will otherwise become restricted free agents the following summer. If you consider worst-case outcomes from there, the most likely scenario is another team offers them a max deal -- the very same deal they're already getting.

In theory, a disgruntled player could take the qualifying offer and play out the season before leaving as an unrestricted free agent the next year. But there's theory, and there's reality. In practice that's never happened with a max-type free agent, only lesser players like Ben Gordon. So there's no upside to these deals, only downside.

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